tragedy in the first person

CADOTTE, Joseph, 26, Fort Benton, 1895-12-27, MONT06-36, 1896-01-10.
Cadotte's Last Statement
Story of his life and how he came to be bad.
Joseph Cadotte, the young half-breed who killed Oliver Richards last June at the Henault ranch on the Teton and who was hung for the crime at Fort Benton on Dec. 27, [1895] made a written statement the night before he was hung.
Cadotte was born in Choteau country some 26 years ago.
His father was a Red River half-breed and his mother a Piegan woman. Both died when Cadotte was quite young and for 15 years the youngster lived with the Indians. Later, he came amongst the whites, went to school and learned to read and then drifted out for himself, forgetting the good things and retaining the bad until too late.
Following is his statement written by himself and in his half Indian style.

It is dated at “Fort Benton, in the Choteau county jail, Dec. 21, 1895:

It is only a few days between me and the grave.
I sincerely hope public will have deep sympathy
 toward me and my poor victim.
I humbly beg all who may have a chance to read this statement,
I asked the public to believe me, I am telling an honest truth.
 I have no doubt there is considerable man have prejudice against me.
I do not blame nobody for having hard feelings towards me.
Every one knows my crime which I am about to pay my life
     is beyond pardon.
But I did not committed my crime over a girl.
I was not jealous of “Oliver Richards.”
The reason we got into trouble
he want to take everything I had away from me.
I was doing my best to prevent him from carrying out his intentions,
which I fail at every point. Of course it made me to get angry at him.
I warn him before all his own folks. Here is what I said,
“Oliver if you compel me to fight you,
remember you shall never get best of me.”
We had two separate quarrels first one I made him put up his knife away,
which he was intend to use on me,   at point of my rifle.
Second one put climax to our fate.
“Now I hope the public will believe me
and not to blame poor 'Miss Mary Henault.'
I swear to god she is not cause of it.
She had nothing to do with the trouble in any shape or form that I know.
'Oliver Richards' and myself are to blame for everything
and no one on the outside is to blame.
“Now I have you all the cause of our trouble.
I hope the public will believe me.
This is not the first time I got into trouble of this kind.
I know when everybody hears of my past life
    they will have a sympathy towards me.
I have lead rough life in my time on this world.
My father and mother both died when I was young.
I did not remember of ever seen them.
 I was with the Indians in my early childhood.
There I was teach by those savages to be brave and fear nothing.
And when I come among the whites
everything I had learn ever since I could remember
it was all reversed.
I went to school in Benton and other places.
“When a little fellow
I leave my people and started out into the broad world all alone,
 no one to guide me.
Every temptation was in my way, but I never see nothing.
I thought I was happy.
“I was on the Roundup and many other places.
 I was among the roughest class of white men,
 and had follow there many wicked ways.
No one to tell me I was doing wrong.
I never was any place where I could learn anything good.
I would get into trouble very often fighting with some one
and get punish for it every time,
and when I began to see the ways of the world it was too late.
I have gone too far to improve.
I have never forgot the lessons I received from the red mans when a child,
and take it on general principal I was not afraid of anything.
I would dare anything others are afraid of,
but never thought time would come I would have to face a doom
which requires every nerve I was trained from a child.
But my main support is Rev. Father Follette,
to help me to bear my misfortune.

“Now I ask the public to study my past life,
and to forgive me,
and I advice my friends not to follow my example,
and I bid them all farewell.
I deserve my fate.
I feel as if I was paying a great and burdensome debt.
I am relieved.
 I shall die a good Christian.

Respectfully Yours, Joseph Cadotte. Montanian Jan. 10, 1896.